wonderful tradition of personals having the president at baseball's opening day and the lost tradition of respecting whoever sits in the office. we begin with tiger woods. advertising man donny deutsch is president of deutsch incorporated and michael feldman, a democratic strategist. donny and michael, please look at now. here's tiger woods at the press conference today. i want your reaction. let's listen. >> you won a lot of golf tournaments over the past five years living a completely secret life. how were you able to do sna secondly, what kind of golfer do you feel you'll be now going forward without having this secret? >> well, i think how i was earlier in my career, i was at peace. and i've had some -- some great years and unfortunately, what i have done over the past years has been, you know, just -- just terrible to my family.

>> donny, i heard earlier today someone recommended to give a little bit of mfrgs on the m.o. how to get away with the secrets and love affairs, the meetings with women. he didn't want to answer that question. was that smart? >> interestingly enough, i thought best thing for him, i don't know if you feel this way, chris, the press conference was boring after five minutes. >> right. >> when he did mea culpa it was riveting and when you know that the parade is passed, you're watching and going asked that question and we have heard it. we have ripped it apart and it's come down to the golf course now. it was a non event. he was direct and seemed genuine. i think he was giving off a vibe i'm moving on if you will without kind of forcing it and kind of seemed to be a friendly crowd. calling everybody by name but i was actually surprised there weren't more lascivious questions. did you have feelings for the girls? have you heard from them? blah blah blah. for him it was a home run. >> michael, i agree. michael feldman, seemed to be a

respective crowd, like fans were in the room. >> i think he was a human being today. i think he looked relaxed. he showed some humility. i think this was a much better performance from him than it was a few months ago with the very scripted press conference where he read from prepared remarks. today he showed he was a human being. the other thing about this and i this was donny's point, too, about the salacious nature after this. the most doing you part of today's press conference was the material he covered about whether or not he used human growth hormones. that potentially coup an impact on his career because that's how he's measured as an athlete but the other stuff, i agree to some extent, he is putting that behind him now and turning to government which is what most people are interested in. can he still play golf? >> you know, i think it is an advantage he has. your thoughts, donny, to prove himself in a way. a politician is really all reputation. we judge our politicians by the

reputations almost in themselves. he is going to be judged by how he does in the masters. can he beat the best in the business this week? >> sure. i've been outspoken talking about the brand is dead. look. tiger's brand about the best golfer in the world and buy the caps and golf shoes and soft drinks. not because he's father or husband of the year and bottom line is if he's wins, he'll be bigger than other. he was the side bar in the press conference saying, you know, how have you changed? he said, well, i'll try not to have so many highs and lows. that's a concerning thing. starting to change the demeanor on the golf course now you're messing with the kind of holy grail. that was a telling thought and i'd be concerned if ifsz his caddie, coach or sponsor hearing that. >> i wonder, mightal, if we're passed the days of babe ruth to drink a tub of shrimp and have the girls the night before and a case of beer and still hit the home run where he pointed. are we in the day where is it's all performance on the field? >> look, in this case, has the

scandal or the facts behind the scandal impacted his anlt to do his job? there are brand considerations and i think donny's in a much better position to evaluate them over the long term. >> okay, the wheaties, would you put him on the package? >> if he wins tournaments, i probably would and get the endorsements if the scandal is a smaller part of the public profile. >> donny? would you put him on the box of cereal? >> he can get as many dollars he wants, some of the kid oriented stuff, family oriented, they've gone by the wayside so a male dominated purchase not by mom, a long time before wheaties but other sponsors. >> let's look at -- >> and soft drinks and things like that. >> here's politicians survived sex scandals and stayed in the business. we can cross over some of the ability to analyze this. let's listen to them explain their business. >> indeed,dy have a relationship with miss lewis skin that was not skept.

in fact, it was wrong. >> i want to again offer my deep, sincere apologies to all those i have let down and disappointed with these actions from my past. i am completely responsible and i'm so very, very sorry. >> last year, i had an affair. i violated the vows of my marriage. it's absolutely the worst thing that i have ever done in my life. >> i asked you if the rumors were true that you were in an affair with a woman obviously who wasn't your wife at the same time that bill clinton and monica lewinsky were having their escapade. >> the fact is the honest answer is, yes. >> the hoens answer is yes. that was newt gingrich with the responsibility of his affair. donny, those people all made it. >> yeah. >> did they do anything, right?

i don't think bringing the wife into it -- saddest part of the number but he's stale senator from louisiana and i believe the favorite to get re-elected down there. >> the point is how much the public wants to forgive you. if nixon did this, i don't think he would have recovered. bill clinton, on brand for him. nobody in the world shocked. it's why governor spitzer hit so hard. i'm a big spitzer fan. it's so off brand for him. look. we are forgiving culture. none of the people killed anybody. half of the people in the world unfaithful. it's something a politician can recover from. >> nobody told nixon that. you don't know if he would have made it. let's take a look -- >> we didn't want it sliding off him. we loved reagan. he was daddy. >> wow. so it all depends. it is one of the thing where is it depends, michael, whether you like the guy or not. the likability. >> it also goes, again, to the person's able to do their job. are the facts contrary? have they undermined themselves and being hypocritical and in

president clinton's case, the reason why the approval rating was high as it was in the kri sis is to put it in the side and communicate to the american people this doesn't mat tore my ability to be president of the united states. i have'm getting up every day and working for you and it was effective for him. >> and putting points on the board. the economy so swimming and so great in the '90s, nobody wanted to change nothing but nixon, stag inflation. people were mad. had the gas lines. wanted to blame nixon. it sounds marxist but economics rules. here's some of the politicians -- right, donny? it is how you do it. >> we talk about this all day on this network. come november, we can talk about health care, whatnot. it's where the jobs and the money are and the elections go. >> let's take a look at politics of these two fellow that is didn't do so well at this. here they are. infidelities. here's spitzer and edwards. let's listen.

>> in the past few days, i have begun to atone for my private failings with my wife soda, my children and my entire family. >> in 2006, two years ago, i made a very serious mistake. mistake that i am responsible for and no one else. in 2006, i told elizabeth about the mistake. asked her for her forgiveness. >> oh, this is kind of unpleasant. your thoughts, donny. why do some guys yank themselves and other guys stick -- one thing i liked about spitzer. nothing against him personally. he yanked himself. he didn't stick around and make us put up with the embarrassment. he took it on the chin and walked and his wife tugt get the profile in courage award for standing there with such dignity in a such terrible situation. >> i think he handled it as well as he could. he was in the white hat, very kind of high value moral ground

and going to be hit hard. the edwards thing, there was a sliminess to it. sanford came out, i was no love. obviously, all of the sordid details with edwards after the fact of the paternity test and whatnot. there's a difference of a guy who's an adulterer and a deceitful slime bag. >> you can handle this. is that your view? is that your distinction, michael? >> let's just put it this way. sometime there is's just a bad fact set and sometimes confronted with that, the person in question doesn't do a very good job of handling it. senator edwards' case, both of the things were the case. bad facts and poorly handled and why it didn't work. >> chris, i want to clarify last statement. being a adun adulter is deceitf. people do it. it gets uglier than that and get in trouble. did i get myself -- >> no. how worse it was for you. okay to go buy sex but don't dpaul in love.

just kidding. this is just terrible circumstance. i think the economy rules. let's get back to health care. if you're delivering masters tournaments and winning, delivering a strong economy, people have a lot in their heart for you. thank you, donny deutsch, thank you, michael feldman. wow. coming up, president obama goes to war with right wing radio and rush limbaugh. accused the president of character assassination and called the administration a regime and hunta like after a military cou 3u. president obama versus rush. coming up next. great thinkers. they're the future of america, so let's bring them up right and give them our cheese. ♪ kraft singles. the american cheese. because with national, i roll past the counter... and choose any car in the aisle. choosing your own car? now that's a good call.

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giuliani thought he secured the endoerment for president in 2007 and rudy built the campaign strategy around crist's endor endorsement but later that year, crist pulled the support and threw it behind john mccain. and giuliani's campaign famously flamed out in florida. "hardball" returns after this. a, email or go online from almost anywhere. so whether you're in portland, oregon, or portland, maine... washington, d.c., or seattle, washington, or somewhere in between, at&t has the coverage you need. hopefully that sheds a little light on the subject. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] every business day, bank of america lends nearly $3 billion dollars

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welcome back to "hardball." this last friday, president obama dropped some names we rarely hear him say. here he is with cbs's harry smith on "the early show." >> are you aware of the level of enemity that crosses the air waves and that people have made part of their daily conversation about you? >> well, i mean, i think that when you listen to rush limbaugh or glenn beck -- >> it's beyond that. >> -- it's pretty apparent and it's troublesome. >> talk about product placement.

rush limbaugh respond third degree weekend with what we call the dick cheney method. he put out an e-mail this time to to l tico. >> quote, i think the president is trying to distract me to get me talking about me on my show instead of him and the administration's agenda. i know that americans are angry at the regime and the democrats' constant attempts to character assassination of their opposition. they want no part of engaging us in the arena of ideas. it's gotten old and end quote. who stands to win or lose? eugene robinson and political analyst. richard wolf, a msnbc analyst and author of "renegade." gene, it seems to me that the president, let's start with who started this. naming the names of somebody in the media, no matter how prominent they are is unusual for a president. he did it. >> there he did it and made the

calculation that nees are pretty good opponents to have. it sharpens the contradictions at it were and i think he'd be happy to running against rush limbaugh and running against glenn beck and running against sarah palin more that matter. >> the ditto heads, they show the allegiance to -- it's an unusual term for independent-minded americans. >> a regime. >> i don't know. but they do love this guy. he's a fantastic entertainer. he is a man of the right and says things people don't disagree with with. >>. talking about regime, hunta today. >> where do you think he's going with this? >> i have a comment at the end of the show. >> the white house, officials about this, they see this is a matter of self defense. the president's got to stand up for himself. obviously, here he was asked a question so it was prompted. they're not going out of their way to make it as a campaign as

some like ram emanuel but he has to stand up for himself. the stuff they're saying in the white house's view and frankly any reasonable person's view is extreme. >> it seems to me that there's a cake they're baking on the right. and all the ingredients are socialist, the delegitimizing of people. he's not an american. all the terms seem foreign and -- >> i want my country back. >> it seems like they're baking a cake so the people get this idea. he's not one of us. >> he's not one of us and not legitimate. the use of the world regime for example. >> hunta. the military guys. used it today. maybe i had a small part in this. i hopefully -- a small part. the president reacting to something said on friday night. i'm so small in this debate. let's listen to rush limbaugh.

>> chris, if you don't like regime, i'll call him a hunta. you know? whatever. they're governing against the will of the people. it doesn't matter. back room deals. bribes. unconstitutionality to get legislation passed. legislation the vast majority of american people don't want. it's a regime. >> chris -- >> regime means foreign. the word we were used to this country from the bush team -- i once called it a bush regime and pay for that as long as i live but the fact is the idea of foreign regime change, if there was a phrase that got into the head before the last word, there's something to be taken down. saddam hussein is a regime. it is a use of a word with this whole confection they're putting together. the guy's a foreigner. >> right. >> he's the enemy of the country. >> in the french sense, right? a foreigner, a dictator, a tyrant. >> and a hunta leader. >> but chris, i don't want you to be distracted here. you have to -- don't threat character assassination come

after you. you have to stick with it. it is a -- more than a confection. it is an organized system that they're trying to place on this white house to say that they're undemocratic and, yes, there's a foreign element to it which you have to be honest about has something to do with the president's color. no two ways about it. the color, the name, the foreign nature of it and the ideological part of it, didn't sign up to a public option. what kind of hunta would do that? >> i know. i don't want to give away the commentary and already telegraphing guys. i think you know where i'm going with this. >> yes. >> but i think there's wonderful things about america, the institutionalize the fact we accepted -- not just a political leader or head of an administration or chief executive or commander in chief but he is head of the country. our president is special. when he comes tlau room, you hold your kids up to see the president. when the baseball season starts, the old american sport of baseball, the president's there to throw out the first pitch.

it's an institutionalizing of something better than politics. tsz the unity. and when you start calling him a regime or look here he is at the game today a. hunta, regime, you are saying he's an interloper, a hunta leader, a military coup leader. >> the president is the head of state. >> they don't accept that. >> they're different from being just the head of government. >> right. >> you know? >> he's a temporary monarch. while he is there, he represents our country. >> we play "hail to the chief" when he comes into the room and this is an attempt to deny that. to say that's not true about this president. >> because? >> does it have something to do with the color? i think so. >> what other reason -- i never get it -- i don't know if -- i was about to say something that's not true. i never get into motive. i do. one question. here's the bill of particulars. back room deals. >> yeah. >> is that new in american politics? >> they believe's part of congress.

>> bribes. it is a crime. it ain't new and i don't think he's guilty of that. unconstitutionality to get the legislation passed. they passed the health care bill with 60 senators. they had 60 senators far while there with ted kennedy tie filibuster isn't in the constitution anyway. >> they got the votes they needed. they tweaked it a little bit. they didn't do this deemed to have passed number they were talking of doing. >> they passed the legislation the way it says in the constitution. you pass the legislation. >> so what has he done that's made haim foreigner? back room deals? we cut a deal about the capital in washington. that was a deal. >> i have done shows with the conservative hosts saying that the birth certificate is fabricat fabricated. >> where? >> kenya. >> mostly. >> the serial numbers are blacked out. they cannot accept the result of the election. wasn't even close. this is a guy that won indiana, north carolina, virginia, he's a

democrat. and this whole idea of delegislate tizing him -- >> i think you and i are about the same. i think we're older than you. the kids don't understand rush limbaugh. they think he is one of us. this talk of being out, you're black. if you're in, you're white. >> that's the name and the father and it's all mixed up in some jumble of rumor and this started -- >> do you think the limbaugh audience, not knocking anybody on the radio and he's a great entertainer and he is a smart guy about what he is doing and could it be they're listening to him and mad at the kids because the kids disagree with him. they want the health care bill. >> i think some of them are -- >> the kids voted for him. >> i think some are mad at a lot

of things, chris. maybe the kids, too. >> their boss, wives. i have a whole theory. i believe that rush limbaugh is basically a support group for traveling sales men. the boss gives him a higher quota. the wife doesn't appreciate him. the only person that roots for them every day is rush limbaugh. you're great. you're great. rush, you're a genius. you are brilliant as a support group. you ought to be a social worker. anyway, richard, thank you. eugene. up next, b-rod fired again. donald trump did the honors on the tv show. don't you just think that trump planning this for weeks? you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. ♪ three decadent flavors. 60 calories. it's me o'clock. time for jell-o. absolutely! i have a lot of stuffiness at night. it wakes me up. i have allergies.

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because the only sign you really want to see is "sold." nobody sells more real estate than re/max. visit remax.com today. hah! back to "hardball." rod blagojevich fired.

again. donald trump did the honors on last night's episode of "celebrity apprentice." >> and governor, i have great respect for you. i have great respect for your tenacity, for the fact that you just don't give up. but rod, you're fired. >> you can catch the next trial and this is true reality in june. he goes to federal court on 24 charges of corruption. next, the straight talk express crashes. senator john mccain is facing a tough primary challenge from hayworth who called him out for being too moderate and the changeup of senator mccain in "newsweek." quote, i never considered myself a maverick. i consider myself a person who serve it is people of arizona to the best of his abilities. oh really? john mccain's never advertised himself as a maverick? catch this 2008 presidential campaign ad from john mccain. >> only mccain has taken on big

tobacco, drug companies, fought corruption in both parties. he'll reform wall street, battle big oil, make america prosper again. he's the average maverick. >> the original maverick. you heard it in his ad. finally, proof that being president isn't all work and no play. if you were watch's saturday final four game, you saw him go one on one with clark kellogg in a shooting exhibition. a game of horse except in this case it's potus. white house talk for president of the united states. the president initially fell behind and then rose to the occasion. here's a look. >> we both got "tu"? >> yeah. this is money time right here. money time. >> wap. >> oh! they warned me about you talking a little bit when you got going. >> let's see what you got. >> oh!

that's unbelievable. i love my left handed stroke. >> can i just say, everybody? i guarantee you clark miss add couple of those on purpose. >> you think so? >> but only because he didn't know he was going to lose. >> that left-handed stroke. wait until rush gets a hold of that line. basketball seems to be the president's sport of choice didn't keep him from throwing out the first pitch today between the philadelphia phillies my team and the washington nationals. the canadian press, by the way, teed up the pitch writing, quote, he's lefty without a whole lot of exexperience and one of the big recent victories came by the eye-popping score 229-212. you can see him walking to the pound there in the jacket and chicago white sox cap. here's a look at the big pitch. it was bit of a lob to the outside of the plate but absolutely mandatory move got it

past the plate. not a strike like george w. bush but not embarrassing. this is a big deal for american presidents. when did the tradition start? 100 years ago. howard taft, you can see him there. he threw out the first pitch of the game between the athletics and senators back in 1910. 100 years of baseball tradition and entire century. tonight's big number. up next, looks like president obama will get the chance to nominate another jus taos the supreme court. the big question is, how big a fight will the republicans make out of this pick?

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i'm julia boorstin with the market wrap. stocks heading higher on a spike of oil prices and friday's

positive jobs report. the dow jones industrials climbing. the nasdaq surging nearly 27 points. oil prices fueling gains today on bets demand will be picking up as the economy continues to recover. that kicked energy stocks into high gear. economic news, the services sector continues to expand the fastest pace in nearly four years. pending home sales climbing more than 8% in february, retailers reporting an uptick in multiple offers on the same home. and the transportation department will be seeking the maximum penalty against toyota. it wants 16.3 $million for some coming fast enough about defective gas pedals. that is the largest civil penalty ever issued against an automaker. that's it from cnbc. now back to "hardball."

welcome back to "hardball." nearing the 90th birthday, supreme court justice john paul stevens gave interview this is weekend that put him on the cover of both "the new york times" and "the washington post." on sunday, not so subtle indication that he is planning to retire and give president obama yet another chance to fill a vacancy on the supreme court. stevens told "washington post," quote, i can tell you that i love the job and deciding whether to leave sit a very difficult decision but i want to make it in a way that's best for the court. justice stevens wants what's best for the court but how tough a fight will president obama have this time around with republicans in congress? ron christie, republican strategist. and willie brown, former mayor of san francisco and former speaker of the california state assembly. you're both attorneys. let's start in that light. here's justice stevens and what he said about president obama in "the washington post." quote, obama's a very competent

president to make choices for the supreme court. stooefbs said perhaps the best he said since gerald ford. i think that's irony there. let' go to ron on this. it seems to me we have not had a tradition of using the filibuster. court appointments were made where the confirmation is people, low 50s. no one said that the opinion shigs has a right to veto the appointment by denying it through filibuster. what is your thinking on that state of play right now in terms of picking a nominee and getting them confirmed? >> i think that is right, chris. i think there's only two judicial nominations in the history of the united states blocked by the filibuster and both done by the democrats. first was in 1968 that was president john's nominee for the chief justice of the united states supreme court and the second back in 2003 when the democrats filibustered the nomination of estrada to become a member of the d.c. court of appeals. so there have been only been two

instances where that's taken place. i don't think it's good for the country. i'm confident that the president will send a qualified nominee should he have a nominee, vacancy to fill and work with the republicans and the democrats to have the best justice for the united states and its citizens. >> well, let's go to it. mayor brown, the question is, is this president smart to sort of grab up this nomination opportunity and hope that the guy quits? in other words, go for it when you have the most democrats in the senate in he's got 59, at least on paper. he probably won't have that many senators next year. smart to make that decision next year? >> i think he wishes to make that decision this year. i also think justice stevens had already made the decision to retire when last december instead of taking on four clerks as he normally would do, he only took on one and then in the history of the supreme court when you take on one, that is clearly a sign of retirement or a young who has, in fact, retired. i think justice stevens wishes

to give president obama the best opportunity to repeat what he's already done on the court and that is come forward with a very talented person to fill his position. >> well, sotomayor won with 68 votes in the senate. she got nine gop votes and the democratic votes. let's look at who's up for the job this time. this is all sort of what's coming out of the smokestack of the white house now. a white house official says that white house is focused on three people. elena kagan, diane wood and merrick garland. however, arlen specter who's a democrat saying we have enough appellate court judges. here he is on fox on sunday. let's listen to arlen specter who's getting loud on this issue for some reason. i have my own theories but here he is. let's listen. >> we need someone with strong academic credentials. i would like to say someone with a broader background.

we have enough sir account justices on the supreme court. >> do you have a nominee, senator specter? >> i do. and i hope to see the precedent that the opening of the baseball season tomorrow and i intend to tell him my thought thoons. >> i'm sure he d. let's me go to willie brown. mayor brown, he focuses on judgeships. the question is, is the president smart to pick somebody when who's a political person? of course, the most significant probably court decision of our lifetime was earl warren, ag of california and turned out to be a liberal and brown case, a wonderful appointment that ike regretted as long as he lived. but you never -- now they seem to know more about the guy or woman's thinking tie process of picking someone for the supreme court is rooted in whether or not that person can first get the votes. and then it becomes an even more difficult task if you're trying to make sure that there will not be a filibuster.

that almost immediately says, you better get somebody that's already been preapproved. appellate court justices are a preapproved. they have gotten approval at one time. they also have somewhat of a track record that you no longer have to debate what they said in college. what speech they made some place. you can actually see what the quality of their stewardship, their intellect and decisions they have made and that's why you end up always on the list of appellate court justices. >> why not pick someone as specter said, someone with a broader background than just an appellate judge? i'm not a lawyer but let me try this by you, ron. you are a thoughtful, political person. why not a cabinet member like janet napolitano who's been governor, dealt with real law, real law enforcement, executive responsibilities in a bipartisan manner because you have to be bipartisan to be a governor. a woman, single woman. wouldn't that be a smart move

and southwestern choice and potentially a leader. people tell me that barack obama looks up to napolitano as maybe the most impressive member of the cabinet inside that room. >> my problems with janet napolitano are that i don't think she's done a strong enough job as the secretary of the department of homeland security to secure the border but i do think that senator specter raise add interesting point. i watched that yesterday and thought, gee, i wonder if the senator is putting himself forward to be a potential candidate but the first thing we need is an individual to interpret the constitution, to look at the issue fairly. not come in with preconceived notions and i think that's the sort of individual that president obama should he be given the opportunity to make a selection should choose, not someone that's going to appease his political base for political purposes. >> you mean like rent zmel. >> well, i mean -- >> i mean, that would be an excellent appointment and thinking very smart to name the appellate judge of philadelphia, also the wife of the governor

there. not a bad move. let me ask you, mayor brown. what do you think would be a smart move at this point? >> i think he has to take into consideration geography. i think you need a balance on the court reflective of the views of the people of the nation, reflective of all of what exists in our system. >> okay. >> obviously, that means you -- maybe you should look at an asian for a change. we have current lay latino, we have a african-american but there's not an asian. >> mayor? >> you may need to look in that direction, as well. >> mayor, we need to get somebody to best interpret the constitution rather than the color of their skin for their qualifications. >> okay, ron. thank you very much. thank you, willie brown. i mean, willie brown. thank you. up next, after the latest gaffe at rnc, party chairman steele says that as an african-american he has a slimmer margin of error. not all republicans agree. that's next. this is "hardball" only on msnbc. nter...

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committee chairman michael steele addressed the recent criticism of the handling at the rnc. let's listen. >> do you feel that as an african-american you have a slimmer mar yin for error than another chairman would? >> the honest answer is, yes. >> why is that? >> it just is. it's barack obama has a slimmer margin. a lot of folks do. i mean, it is a different role for, you know, for me to play and others to play. and that's just the reality of it. i mean, but you take that as part of -- part of the nature of it. >> well can he weather the storm? joining it seems to me jonathan allen and lynn sweet. lynn, you first. was he smart to admit that that was a factor? >> he didn't bring it up. he was candid and therefore he didn't want to run away from it. >> yeah. >> he's not going to be replaced right now. >> why not? >> he is not going to be replaced because and would put

into the rnc and be too much to have to replace him with a november election. >> jonathan, can he put his numbers on his board against his reputation? winning races in virginia, new jerseys and massachusetts does this count in his favor more than the goofs that go on? >> if the republicans do well in 2010 in november he'll be able to make that for an argument for himself. he's got issues right now internally. let's remember there are a lot of people who want michael steele to fail. not only the democrats in the country, but he got elected on the sixth ballot when he ran for chairman. most of republican delegates who voted on that, committeemen and committeewomen didn't want him in the first place. >> they didn't think he had the fighting weight? >> a lot didn't think he had the substance, thought he had good style, was good on tv but wouldn't bring what he needed to to the job. >> this is not a presidential year. a lot of the big money would go to the senatorial and house

committees. there's other places for republican money to go. he is the chairman and just not going to be replayed. >> exact senator kyl coming out against him and people like that? what's that mean? >> senator kyl and the congress mab from california who came out against him or said changes had to be made as a result of the scandal, the charges at a strip club, wasn't his charge, but lower-level person. think it is something that demonstrates exactly how republicans are feeling about him right now, that they don't like the direction the committee has gone. lynn makes a very good point, though. a lot of the money would be going elsewhere anyway. what we're hearing now is a lot of the people who donated to the republican national committee are giving to the republican governors association, to haley barbour, a big player in 2012, presidential politics -- >> plenty of other tubs to put this money in. the question is, is it going to begin for what will be the next chairman? >> this kerfuffle that goes on,

could this stop the republicans from picking the house back up, from maybe winning the senate? >> it's a distraction, yes. it's a long time, by the way, since november. most of the candidate recruit l for better or worse is there. may is the next round of big primaries where you have candidates locked in. if he had not been doing a lot of candidate recruitment anyway, so this kerfuffle isn't going to impact it.jonathan, mentioning e had to mention one way or another, either it's a factor or not, and he had to give a candid answer i believe, is this something that's good tor bad for him? i do think the candidates get elected the first time who are african-americans and the heat's on them more than other people. seems to be. that's a judgment by me. others can disagree with it. he thinks that's the case. what do you think he should have said? >> i can't speak to his experience. i can tell you i think candor is something that gets people in the political realm a long way and i think the answer will be

taken as candor by a lot of folks, whether he's in the microscope or not, sure he is. a lot of people believe president obama was when he first ran. there are very, very few high-ranking african-american officials in the republican party and so certainly that adds a dimension to anyone looking at his stewardship. >> what a wonderful thing you said. you said candor gets you a long way. i always thought saying what you really means gets you in trouble. thank you jonathan allen from pret politico, thank you, lynn sweet. when we return, final thoughts about this tradition of presidents throwing out the first pitch and tradition of recognizing the guy in office is our president. all of our president. for me to breathe.

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let me finish by telling you 100 years ago william howard taft threw out the first pitch of the opening league of the baseball season. today barack obama did the same. the difference was 50 feet. in the old days the president of the united states threw the ball from the sthands stands, it was a toss really requiring no athletic ability whatsoever. today you have to stand on the mound and get it over the plate. jack kennedy was caught practicing before his opening day back in the early '60s. that was in the era where they tossed it from the stands. today barack obama threw it from the mound. the whole 60 feet, 60 inches. i know how hard it is. i once tried throwing a fast ball from the mound at a double a game up in connecticut.

it was a duster. when i threw out the first pitch at the nationals game i was ready to get it over the plate and actually it wound up just a bit outside. the great thing about the opening day pitch, it's one of the ways we honor the president as chief of state, as head of our country, not as chief executive, the person who runs the executive branch, not as the person heading up the government or leading one of the political parties but representative of the american people and our republic irk, itself. it's not a regime or junta, as rush limbaugh says it is. even when the republican majority got in there because the supreme court -- on the supreme court majority gave the electorate vote to george w. bush in 2000, it was the bush administration and it was president bush, the chief of state, the representative of our republic. this use of the word regime by limbaugh is obviously his way to cause trouble, to agitate, provoke. other people have used it on occasion. byron york, the columnist discovered i used it myself once in 2002 with a conversation with

al sharpton. it's just not the right word. whatever the motive, whatever the circumstance to describe the government of our country. in the current environment a place those who believe the president is somehow illegitimate, that he or his philosophy is less american than his critics. rush limbaugh is using that word to deny this administration's political legitimacy. i can't stop limbaugh from using the word regime. the guy knows his audience. it plays to something bad in this country, no matter who's using the word, left or right. it's not an affirmation of our right to disagree about politics in this country, it's a rejection of that right, rejects our right to debate politics which is what we do in this country like play baseball. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. catch us again tomorrow night at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern. right now it's time for "the ed show" with ed schultz. good evening, americans, welcome to "the ed show" tonight from new york.

these stories are hitting my hot buttons tonight. rush limbaugh, the king of self-dillusion thinks the president is doing interviews to get at him? i have more on this in a moment. rnc chairman michael steele suggests he's under fire because he's black. i thought it was because of a $2,000 strip club receipt. the reverend al sharpton will be here at the half to talk more about that. tiger woods talked to the media today about his ongoing rehab and use of prescription drugs. steven a. smith will be here for the "playbook." lots of sports tonight. politico is reporting at this hour republican national committee chief of staff ken mckay has resigned. we'll put that to our panel later on tonight. first, this is the story that's gotten me fired up. the president gets it. he finally told america that right-wing talkers and the network across the street, well,

they're a problem. i've been telling you for weeks that conservative media is doing real damage to this country. harry smith asked the president about it. >> are you aware of the level that crosses the airwaves and that people have made part of their daily conversation about you? >> well, i mean, i think that when you listen to rush limbaugh or glenn beck -- >> it's beyond that. >> it's pretty apparent. and it's troublesome. >> well, you know, the president didn't have to answer that, but i'm glad he did. this was an honest answer. he could have said, you know, i don't pay attention to that stuff, don't listen to those guys, but he knows millions of americans do. rush didn't like getting called out. he e-mailed this to politico over the weekend. "i know a majority of americans are angry at the regimes and the democrats' constant attempts to character assassination of their